Forwarding voice messages to a called party using electronic mail

ABSTRACT

A system and apparatus provides a voice message of a calling party to a called party. The method includes the steps of initiating a telephone call to the called party over a first network and receiving the telephone call at a network node within the first network. The method further includes the steps of determining whether the called party is on-line a second network and receiving the voice message from the calling party. The method further includes the steps of converting the voice message to a digital file and sending an electronic mail message that includes the digital file to the called party.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a system for forwarding voicemessages to a called party. More particularly, the present invention isdirected to a system for forwarding voice messages to a called partyusing electronic mail.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the advent of cellular phones and pagers, an individual person mayhave multiple telephone numbers associated with them. Telephone routingsystems exist to automatically route calls intended for a called partyto multiple phone numbers in an attempt to reach the called party. Forexample, a routing system can automatically route telephone calls for acalled party to the called party's business phone, then home phone, thencellular phone, then pager device.

Sometimes a called party cannot respond to a telephone call to any ofthe phone numbers associated with the called party. In this case, knowntelephone answering systems can record a voice message from the callingparty. This message can be later retrieved by the called party. However,the calling party has no way to determine when or if the called partyhas retrieved the message. Further, the calling party may desire thatthe called party be able to immediately retrieve the message.

Based on the foregoing, there is a need for a system and method thatallows a calling party to leave a voice message for a called party thatcan be immediately retrieved by the called party, and that provides anindication to the calling party that the message has been retrieved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One embodiment of the present invention is a system and method forproviding a voice message of a calling party to a called party. Themethod includes the steps of initiating a telephone call to the calledparty over a first network and receiving the telephone call at a networknode within the first network. The method further includes the steps ofdetermining whether the called party is on-line on a second network andreceiving the voice message from the calling party. The method furtherincludes the steps of converting the voice message to a digital file andsending an electronic mail message that includes the digital file to thecalled party.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a voice message system in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed by a network nodeaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One embodiment of the present invention is a telephone network servicethat transmits a voice message from a calling party to a called partyvia electronic mail (“e-mail”) if the called party is on-line. Thepresent invention can then immediately notify the calling party if themessage has been retrieved. The present invention can further allow thecalling party to talk live to the called party or receive a voicemessage from the called party.

FIG. 1 illustrates a voice message system in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. The system 40 includes a network 14coupled to a network 18. In one embodiment, network 14 is the PublicSwitched Telephone Network (“PSTN”) and network 18 is the Internet.

System 40 further includes telephones 10 and 20 coupled to network 14. Acalling party initiates a telephone call using telephone 10. A calledparty receives the telephone call using telephone 20 at a phone numberassociated with the called party. The telephone call is routed fromtelephone 10 to telephone 20 through network 14.

A network node 12 is one of the nodes within network 14. In oneembodiment, node 12 is a general purpose computer that includes aprocessor and memory. Node 12 is programmed to perform the steps of thepresent invention that are described below. Node 12 stores a list of allcalled parties that subscribe to the voice message system of the presentinvention and a corresponding e-mail address for each called party.

All telephone calls intended for the called party at telephone 20 areautomatically routed to network node 12 if the called party isunavailable at telephone 20 (i.e., the called party does not answertelephone 20 or telephone 20 is busy). A service similar to “Home VoiceMail” available from Bell Atlantic Corp. or other known voice systemsthat are implemented on a local phone switch can perform the function ofautomatically routing incoming calls for telephone 20 to node 12 if thecalls are not answered.

System 40 further includes a computer 22. Computer 22 is a generalpurpose computer that allows a user to access network 14 and/or network18 (i.e., the Internet) and receive and send electronic mail overnetwork 18. In one embodiment, computer 22 is equipped with a sound cardthat allows a user to listen to audio files, a modem for dialing into anetwork, and a microphone. Computer 22 accesses network 18 by dialinginto an Internet Service Provider (“ISP”) 16. ISP 16 is coupled tonetwork 18. ISP 16 is further coupled to node 12 through network 14.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the steps performed by network node12 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention when acalling party at telephone 10 initiates a telephone call to a calledparty at telephone 20.

At step 100, node 12 receives the telephone call from the calling partyat phone 10 to the called party at phone 20 (i.e., at a phone numberassociated with the called party) if the called party does not answerthe telephone call. As previously discussed, the telephone call isautomatically routed to node 12 when the called party does not answer.When the telephone call is routed to node 12, node 12 also receivesinformation that identifies the called party. In another embodiment, thecalling party can directly dial a number associated with node 12 inorder to leave a voice message for the called party. In such anembodiment, node 12 will prompt the calling party to identify the calledparty by, for example, entering the telephone number of the calledparty.

At step 110, node 12 determines whether the called party is on-line withrespect to network 18 via computer 22 and therefore can immediately bereached by electronic mail. In one embodiment, computer 22 is aUnix-based computer, and node 12 can issue a Unix “finger” command overnetwork 18. The response to the finger command by computer 22, receivedby node 12 determines whether the called party is on-line. In anotherembodiment, computer 22 is programmed to automatically send an e-mailmessage to node 12 during predetermined times (e.g., every 1 minute)when the called party is on-line. In still another embodiment, computer22 is programmed to automatically send an e-mail to node 12 when thecalled party becomes on-line (i.e., when the called party logs on) andwhen the called party is no longer on-line (i.e., when the called partylogs off).

If it is determined that the called party is on-line at step 110, node12 performs step 130. If it is determined that the called party is noton-line at step 110, at step 120 node 12 determines whether the callingparty wants to leave a voice message that will not be immediatelyavailable to the called party. If the calling party does not want toleave a message, the telephone call is ended. If the calling party doeswant to leave a message, node 12 performs step 130.

At step 130, node 12 prompts the calling party to leave a voice messagefor the called party. The voice message is then received by node 12.

At step 140, the voice message received from the calling party isconverted into a digital audio file (e.g., a “WAV” file, an “AU” orMu-law file, a RealAudio® file, a pulse code modulation file, etc.).Step 140 includes an analog-to-digital conversion in node 12 of thevoice message if the voice message is received by node 12 as an analogsignal. In another embodiment, node 12 converts the voice message todigitized text using a speech-to-text converter.

At step 150, an e-mail is sent to the called party at computer 22. Thedigital audio file formed at step 140 is included with the e-mail as anattachment in one embodiment. In another embodiment, if the voicemessage was converted to text at step 140, the digitized text isincluded within the body of the e-mail.

After the e-mail is sent, the calling party is given the option ofremaining on hold by node 12 if the called party was determined to beon-line at step 110. When the called party retrieves or opens thee-mail, the voice message in the form of the audio file can be listenedto by the called party, or the text message can be read by the calledparty. Opening the e-mail automatically generates an indication that thee-mail was opened. The indication is sent to node 12. In one embodiment,the indication is a confirmation e-mail that is automatically generatedand sent to node 12 when the received e-mail is open by the calledparty. At step 160, node 12 provides the calling party with aconfirmation that the e-mail has been opened when the indication isreceived. If the calling party remains on hold, the confirmation thatthe called party has opened the e-mail is immediately received by thecalling party. If the calling party does not wish to remain on hold, thecalling party can request a call back from node 12 when the called partyopens the e-mail. Therefore, this step provides the calling party withthe option of immediate feedback when the called party retrieves thevoice message.

Other options are performed by node 12 if the calling party remains onhold at step 160. These options can be specified by the called partywhen the called party sets up the service described by the presentinvention. One option allows the called party to send a voice messageresponse to the calling party. The calling party will be notified that aresponse is coming. The called party creates the response by speakinginto the microphone of computer 22. The response is then converted to adigital audio file and sent to node 12 as an attachment to an e-mail.Node 12 then plays the audio file to the calling party.

Another option allows the called party to be connected to the callingparty directly through network 18 (i.e., with the called party usingInternet telephony or any other known method). This allows the calledparty to engage in a live two-way conversation with the calling party.

Several embodiments of the present invention are specificallyillustrated and/or described herein. However, it will be appreciatedthat modifications and variations of the present invention are coveredby the above teachings and within the purview of the appended claimswithout departing from the spirit and intended scope of the invention.

For example, instead of delivering the voice message using e-mail, inone embodiment the voice message is sent to an Internet Web page that isautomatically pushed to the called party if the called party is on-line.The called party can then listen to the message using a standardInternet audio player.

Further, in one embodiment computer 22 does not include the capabilityof listening to audio files yet the called party can still listen to anaudio file of the calling party's voice message. In this embodiment, thecalled party receives an e-mail message that instructs the called partyto call node 12 to receive the voice message. Node 12 then plays thevoice message to the called party. Node 12 can then complete thetelephone call between the calling party and the called party if thecalling party has remained on hold.

As described, the present invention transmits a voice message from acalling party to a called party via e-mail if the called party ison-line. The present invention can then immediately notify the callingparty if the message has been retrieved. The present invention canfurther allow the calling party to talk live to the called party orreceive a voice message from the called party.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of providing a voice message to a calledparty at a computer when a calling party initiates a telephone call,said method comprising: (a) determining whether the called party ison-line with respect to a first network; (b) receiving the voice messagefrom the calling party; (c) converting the voice message to a digitalfile; (d) sending an electronic mail message that includes the digitalfile to the called party over the first network if the called party isdetermined to be on-line; (e) receiving an indication when the calledparty has opened the electronic mail message; and (f) providing theindication to the calling party, wherein the indication is provided tothe calling party during the telephone call.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the digital file comprises a digital audio file.
 3. The methodof claim 1, wherein the digital file comprises a digital text file. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) comprises the step of sending aUnix finger command to the computer.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinthe first network is an Internet.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein thetelephone call is initiated over a public switched telephone network toa telephone number associated with the called party.
 7. A method ofproviding a voice message of a calling party to a called partycomprising the steps of: (a) receiving a telephone call at a networknode within a first network, wherein the telephone call is initiated bythe calling party to the called party over the first network. (b)determining whether the called party is on-line with respect to a secondnetwork; (c) receiving the voice message from the calling party; (d)converting the voice message to a digital file; (e) sending anelectronic mail message that includes the digital file to the calledparty if it is determined that the called party is on-line; (f)receiving an indication when the called party has opened the electronicmail message; and (g) providing the indication to the calling party,wherein the indication is provided to the calling party during thetelephone call.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the called party is ata computer and wherein step (b) comprises the step of sending a Unixfinger command to the computer.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein thefirst network is a public switched telephone network and the secondnetwork is an Internet.
 10. The method of claim 7, wherein the digitalfile comprises a digital audio file.
 11. The method of claim 7, whereinthe digital file comprises a digital text file.
 12. A voice messagenetwork system comprising: a network; a network node coupled to saidnetwork; and a computer coupled to said network node; wherein saidnetwork transfers to said network node a telephone call from a callingparty to a phone number associated with a called party if the calledparty does not answer the telephone call; and wherein said network nodeis programmed to perform the steps of: (a) determining whether thecalled party is on-line with respect to said computers, wherein saidcomputer is programmed to send a first electronic mail message to saidnetwork node when the called party is on-line; (b) receiving a voicemessage from the calling party; (c) converting the voice message to adigital file; and (d) sending a second electronic mail message thatincludes the digital file to said computer if it is determined that thecalled party is on-line.